


Wallowing in the Past

by ambivertedintrovert



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst and Feels, matilda scolds scrooge because he had it coming, post- the fight for castle mcduck, spoiler free, they just talk about the past and briefly about the ten year drift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:22:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27711308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambivertedintrovert/pseuds/ambivertedintrovert
Summary: "The two of them would have loved to see their grandchildren."It wouldn’t have taken a genius to know which two people Matilda was talking about. Her gaze softened as she watched the kids play, dragging their great-grandparents with them throughout the innumerable rooms of the castle.She and Scrooge have more than a decade of catching up to do.
Relationships: Hortense McDuck & Matilda McDuck & Scrooge McDuck, Matilda McDuck & Scrooge McDuck
Comments: 5
Kudos: 76





	Wallowing in the Past

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to write this after the recent episode
> 
> (feel free to contact me on my tumblr @your-local-semi-nerd)

"The two of them would have loved to see their grandchildren."

It wouldn’t have taken a genius to know which two people Matilda was talking about. Her gaze softened as she watched the kids play, dragging their great-grandparents with them throughout the innumerable rooms of the castle. “You said they were Della’s children, right?”

"The boys, yes. Webbigail is our housekeeper's granddaughter, but they're both family too," Scrooge told her while looking through an old album. He flipped several pages casually, occasionally laughing at a memory. Matilda’s attention was elsewhere, however, as she looked blankly at the walls, her hands fidgeting.

"Ah look! It's a picture of the three of us just after I earned my first billion!" Scrooge grinned at her, pointing at a picture of a middle-aged Scrooge, Matilda and Hortense.

"We time travelled and adventured a lot before she settled down, remember?” Matilda glanced at him with a small smile. She had a tired look on her face that almost made her look her age.

“Just the three of us against the unknown. She would’ve scoffed in my face back then if I would’ve told her it would be like this a century later."

"Mm."

There was a sudden pause- an empty feeling where Hortense would have been.

Matilda sighed, running a hand through her hair. "We missed you, you know. We'd make up silly stories, guessing what you’d see on your adventures. At first you'd write to us often, but then the letters stopped coming in as much. Mummy and Daddy grew worried, and the house started feeling lonely. You just went gallivanting about the world, becoming richer and power-hungry," she said, dejection showing on a little on her face, “I still cannot believe Hortense was the first to approach you after all those years.”

"You do realize you’re ‘ _gallivanting about the world_ ’ now, right?"

"Well, what _else_ can you do when you're immortal?” asked Matilda, her voice suddenly turning intimidating. “Almost everyone I've loved is gone, Scrooge. And I haven't met most of our family in ages!"

"You can still meet them!" Scrooge tried to defend himself in a small voice, but his sister was having none of it.

"You could have _at least_ brought the twins along! Last I checked on them, Donald was trying for a job and Della wanted to get an official pilot’s license. They look different now in the photo," she held the recent photo gently in her hands, a pensive expression on her face.

"And when did Dell-bell lose a leg? You three look like you've gone through so much."

Scrooge froze at that question.

Of _course_ she hadn't known. It had been a long time since Donald or Della met Matilda, thanks to the once in 5 years policy. Fergus and Downey themselves hadn't found out what had happened until much later.

" _What do you mean she lost it on the moon and got stranded there for 10 years?"_ Matilda's voice echoed in the room, and while her temper wasn't half as bad as her siblings', that didn't mean she wasn't frightening when she could be.

She placed a hand on her forehead in anger, and continued to berate him."You accidently lost our niece on the moon, our nephew took off with the kids, and you didn't bother to tell me? Scrooge, have you gone mad?"

"I considered it-"

" _Considering_ is not enough Scrooge! Do you know how infuriated Hortense and Quackmore would be?”

(Scrooge knew he had messed up when Matilda had outright said their sister's name. He himself had taken a while to adjust, but had noticeably been more comfortable saying Hortense and Quackmore's names after the twins shifted in.

Matilda, on the contrary, had never recovered completely. Her face would suddenly look wistful whenever she would meet the twins, gears turning about and hurting from within.)

“Hortense would say, _'Matilda, you're the peace maker, there was a rift in the family and what were you doing?'_ Then I'd have to sit here, hurting, because _someone_ thought he was tough enough to bear the loss. You aren't tough enough Scrooge! No one is. You can't always hide behind your persona," she was clearly worked up by now, and wiped away a lone tear from her eye.

 _‘They would never have let you survive with the family splitting up like that’_ went unsaid, but it was pretty obvious to the siblings. Scrooge cowered under his sister’s stern glare, and his eyes darted to the floor as he tried to find the right words.

"I didn't know how to face any of you,” he finally said, “It was so much guilt and I'd lost everyone in a night. I shouldn't have made that rocket in the first place, I should've known." He mumbled an apology and looked up at her, apologetic and hurt all the same.

He didn’t except her to pull him into a hug. Matilda chuckled lightly, but Scrooge knew that all the pain hadn't actually been erased. "You're lucky I'm Matilda. "

She was right; he was lucky she was Matilda. She was mad at him, but she knew how to control it. It was what had always made her the level-headed one between the three of them.

And as Scrooge returned the hug, he knew that even if she didn't forgive him completely yet, they'd manage.

Because one day, it would all be better.


End file.
